WrestleMania
by frostyfreezyfreeze54
Summary: If you don't read this , you're missing out on one hell of a fanfic. If you've read my stories before, welcome. If you're a first-timer and I'm 100% sure many of you are , then get ready for a wild ride. This is about a Hitman, a Hulkster, and a title.
1. Introduction

WrestleMania

Before I begin, I'd like to point out that this is my fourth story. However, none of my stories have been reviewed or even looked at. What, you guys don't like wrestling anymore? I strongly consider you give this fanfic a chance. It's better than half the crap you guys call "wrestling stories." The story begins in the year of 1984. The WWE, then known as the WWF, was going through a period of decline. Donald Trump was prepared to purchase the company's assets soon, and a few of the WWF's stars either left the company to join WCW, WWF's rival, or had retired. Attendance records began to spiral downward, and there was beginning to be doubt in the locker room that the company would last even another year. However, the transformation of the WWF began on May 20, 1984 when chairman Vince McMahon announced that in less than a year, the WWF would be hosting an event that would change the company's misfortunes around for good. It was entitled WrestleMania. McMahon said it would be the flagship show of the WWF and it would feature star-studded matches and unthinkable encounters. Soon, the WWF was back in the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons. Many people claimed that it couldn't be done, that it was a "Starrcade ripoff"(Starrcade is WCW's flagship show), and that WWF's financial problems wouldn't allow the show to even thrive. On July 4, 1984, Bill Gates announced that would be donating $1,000,000 to the company to help produce the event. Soon, money started pouring in from many honorable donors, including then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan. By September of 1984, WWF had more than enough money to rent an arena, get live entertainment, and TV spots for WrestleMania. On September 25, 1984, McMahon announced that Madison Square Garden would host the event. It would take place on March 31, 1985 on closed-circuit television. Over an estimated one million viewers were projected to watch it on NBC. Everything had fallen into place. Now let's get on to the buildup for the matches, especially the main event...


	2. Background

During an episode of WWF Superstars on November 22, 1984, WWF Champion Hulk Hogan teamed up with Bret "The Hitman" Hart against Big John Studd and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in a star-studded tag-team match. Hogan's team won after Hart forced Studd to tap out to the Sharpshooter. However, over the next few months, a feud between Hogan and Hart began to unfold. The Hulkster and The Hitman were the #1 and #2 babyfaces in the WWF, respectively. For Hogan, his road to superstardom began in January of 1984, when he won the WWF Championship from the Iron Sheik and singlehandedly began Hulkamania. For Hart, he had to take a longer road to the top. After training in the Hart Dungeon for several years, Vince McMahon was so impressed with his talent that he gave the Hitman a WWF contract. In 1980, Hart teamed with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart as the Hart Foundation. They found instant success as a tag team, winning the World Tag Team Championship on five different occasions. In 1983, Neidhart moved back to Calgary to help mentor the Hart Dungeon students. From there, Hart found success as a singles wrestler as well, beating "Cowboy" Bob Orton for the Intercontinental Championship on the Christmas edition of WWF Superstars on December 23, 1983. He held the title twice after that for a total of three Intercontinental Championship reigns. His surging popularity helped him become a main-eventer, and soon, rumors of Hulk Hogan facing Hart for the WWF Championship started spreading like wildfire. On January 22, 1985, those rumors became a reality. Hart beat Studd, Orton, Orndorff, and Bob Backlund in a five-way match to earn a WWF Championship opportunity. The dream match was going to come true. On February 27, 1985, Hogan announced he would face Hart for the title at the first-ever WrestleMania. Both men claimed to have great respect for one another, but it would be thrown aside when they stepped foot in the ring at WrestleMania. Tickets for the show sold out in only 45 minutes. Many people had even bought tickets in advance. On March 25, 1985, six days before the event on WWF Superstars, the two had a contract signing for the match. Hogan claimed that no matter what Hart throws at him, he'll throw it back 10 times harder at WrestleMania. Hart said that the only thing Hogan will throw to him will be the WWF Championship when he wins it for all his friends and family back in Calgary. The two had a brawl to end the show.


	3. The Match

On March 31, 1985 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it was time. 19,121 fans were in attendance for the show. Over an estimated one million people were watching the event on NBC as TV sets were turned on all over the world. Ticketholders even had campouts the night before WrestleMania so they could be the first ones in the arena. It was a huge financial success and the matches ranged from serviceable to excellent. Now, all was left would be the main event. Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Championship against Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Both men got a loud ovation from the crowd. The bell rang. The dream match was now a reality. Hogan took the early advantage by focusing on Hart's injured right leg, which was a minor injury but possibly worse than Hart could admit. Both men countered each other's finishing moves and aerial attacks. At one point, Hogan prepared to hit a powerbomb on Hart off the top turnbuckle, but the Excellence Of Execution reversed it into a huracanrana. Also, Hogan went for a crossbody on the outside, but Hart hit a dropkick. The two barely made it back in the ring, getting there at 8. From there, Hart focused on his main objective: To make Hogan tap out with the Sharpshooter. It wasn't easy. The WWF Champion was countering every attempt Hart made to lock the hold in. Instead, Hogan began to build momentum and started brawling with The Hitman. Hogan revved up by performing manuevers completely out of his arsenal, like the High Cross and a snapmare. Hogan then "hulked up", and from there Hart's attacks were ineffective as Hogan hit four Irish Whips and the Big Boot. It was over. Hart would be another victim of Hulkamania. All it took was one Atomic Legdrop. "He hit it! Hogan hit it!", Gorilla Monsoon said as the MSG crowd was whirled into a frenzy. The Hulkster made the cover. ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! No one had ever kicked out of the Atomic Legdrop before. It was always the end for Hogan's opponents. Not this time. Hogan climbed to the top rope and nailed Hart with an Atomic Legdrop off it. However, the WWF Champion was too exhausted to make the cover in time. ONE! TWO! KICKOUT! Again, Hogan's attempts were fruitless. No matter what, Hart threw everything Hogan had to offer back in his face- and then some. Hart took the advantage, and hit Hogan with a clothesline, a vertical suplex, a piledriver, and a running senton. The Pink and Black Attack prepared to finally lock in the Sharpshooter. And he did it! Hart finally had Hogan trapped in the most lethal weapon in his arsenal. Madison Square Garden had turned into a mental institution in just 25 minutes. Hogan made it to the ropes, however, and the bout continued. Hart missed the clothesline, and Hogan capitalized with a DDT. The Atomic Legdrop missed! Hart scrambled to his feet and once again put Hogan in the Sharpshooter. With the hold fully cinched in, and the ropes too far away, the red-and-yellow garbed superstar had no choice but to tap out. It's over! It's over! Bret Hart is the new WWF Champion! As half the New York audience was partying like it was 1979, the other half sounded like a morgue. Goodbye, red and yellow! Hello, pink and black! As balloons and confetti rained down into the ringside area, several Hart family members, including Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Owen Hart, and Bret Hart's father, Stu Hart, gathered together and put The Hitman on their shoulders as he celebrated with his new gold. Hogan came back in the ring and shook Hart's hand as the two embraced in the center of that four-sided ring. When all was said and done, Bret "The Hitman" Hart had emerged as the new WWF Champion and the company's savior.


	4. The Great Wrestling Scare

Hulk Hogan vs. Bret Hart was the match that put the WWF back on the map. Or so people thought. That was the last good match in the company for a while. After WrestleMania, attendance plummeted and ticket sales spiraled downward. In fact, 623 people showed up for a June 1987 episode of WWF Superstars. The company had resumed its issues, and many Superstars left for WCW, which became wrestling's hottest thing in years. ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling), the third company created by Paul Heyman, was all-hardcore and pushed the limits of gimmick wrestling. WWF was now a distant third in the sports-entertainment world. In 1988, Donald Trump became WWF's new owner and purchased its assets. The front page on WWF's website read: "WWF Gets Trumped." The billionare tycoon immediately made headlines and claimed that the WWF's misfortunes would turn around for good. Men like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock transcended the struggling company, and ticket sales went up and attendance boosted. Austin was the take-no-prisoners tough guy who liked drinking beer. Rock was the charismatic bully who spoke in the third person and cut amazing promos, whether he was a face or a heel. In fact, for most of his career, Rock was a face because he got over so well with the crowd. Both men were major box-office draws and their merchandise was sold more than any other superstar during that boom period. The two are often recognized as the leaders of that particular period in the WWF, known as the Attitude Era. Around this time, programming was becoming less family-friendly and more raunchy, more boundary-pushing, and more aggressive than ever before or ever will be. At WrestleMania VI in 1990, in what was dubbed as "The Ultimate Challenge", Austin and Rock met for the very first time one-on-one. Austin was the WWF Champion at the time. In a classic 35-minute match, Austin won after reversing a Rock Bottom into a Stone Cold Stunner for the clean pin. The next night, however, on WWF Superstars, Rock won the title after hitting the People's Elbow. Many were excited to see Rock as champion and WCW began losing its grip on the wrestling world. A week later, Trump announced that Superstars would soon be increased to two hours as opposed to the original one hour. This meant more matches and bigger buildup for ongoing feuds. 8.8 million people tuned in to see the two-hour show in May. It was WWF's highest rating in 11 years.

WCW began having its own issues, and filed for bankruptcy in 1992 (around the time of WrestleMania VIII). That same year, Vince McMahon returned as Chairman of the WWF and began working with Trump to reinvent the company. WWF purchased WCW's assets (creating the World Heavyweight Championship, United States Championship, and WWE Tag Team Championship in the process). Every wrestler under contract with WCW was now WWF property, leading to a large influx of new talent and a swelled roster. In the summer of 1992, WWF assigned half its roster to Superstars, and the other half to a new show called WWF Thursday Night SmackDown!. Unlike Superstars, SmackDown! was taped. It was recorded Tuesday night, edited the next day, and aired on Thursday night. Although it was taped, WWF never mentioned that fact on TV. The two shows became brands, and it was known as the Brand Extension. Later that year in November, SmackDown! was now moved (citing low ratings) to its more recognizable day: Friday. It was now called WWF Friday Night SmackDown!. This allowed the WWF production team more time to make necessary edits, and ratings instantly improved. Two months later, a new show would take the place of Superstars. It would have the same two-hour format, but would have a new title and different colors. It was known as WWF Monday Night RAW. The series premiere took place at the Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York and spawned 8.0 million viewers. WWF's popularity was finally solidified and in three years, it would have finally gone full-circle. The Great Wrestling Scare is now known as the lowest point in WWF's history. Also, did I mention that WWF changed its name to WWE after a settled lawsuit in 1996?

NOTE: In October 1996, Paul Heyman filed for bankruptcy, and ECW, the third wrestling company during the mid-to-late '1980s, was dead. WWF secretly purchased ECW's assets (creating the third world title known as the ECW Championship) and the new belt was introduced at Armageddon, which Rob Van Dam won. At New Year's Revolution, the rest of the ECW roster (kayfabe) "invaded" the event, and by night's end, Vince was forced to accommodate the "extremists." A month later, _ECW _premiered, and every man on the show was now a part of the new third brand. Some RAW and SmackDown! Superstars legitimately jumped ship to ECW.


End file.
